There's currently little EU legislation to protectdogs and cats

Belgium launches new animal welfare initiative to tackle the high risk online sale of pets

The EU Dog
& Cat Alliance applauds Belgium for leading the way in Europe by
establishing a new animal welfare group, BelgPAAG (Belgian Pet Advertising
Advisory Group), designed to tackle the increasing and high risk sale of pets
online.

The EU Dog
& Cat Alliance is calling for more attention to the rising issue of the
online sale of pets, and has been working with NGOs across Europe to play their
part by establishing PAAGs in a number of EU countries.

The vast
majority of websites which sell pets in the EU are completely unregulated in
more than three-quarters of Member States. The newly established BelgPAAG met
for the first time on Tuesday 20th June in Brussels to discuss how
to tackle unscrupulous dealers who trade pets online.

This trade
poses risks to pets being traded and consumers, who have very little protection
from rogue sellers. Animals which have been illegally bred and traded can carry
diseases such as rabies or Echinococcus multilocularis, which can be
passed on to humans, or have genetic disorders which consumers are not aware of
at the time of purchase.

PAAG has been
established in Ireland and the UK for more than 15 years, and has led the way
in encouraging marketplace websites to adopt a set of minimum standards to help
regulate the online sale of pets by assessing adverts and flagging suspicious
ones, and it is hoped this will spread across Europe.

“Historically
anyone wanting to buy a pet would skim newspaper adverts or speak to friends,
however today there are thousands of adverts placed online every day
advertising animals. PAAG has developed a set of minimum guidelines for online
host sellers to help highlight the suspicious adverts, which we are thrilled to
have high-profile websites signed up to.

“To
regulate such a profitable and fast-paced industry is challenging, but we’re
encouraged EU Member States are adopting the PAAG model and establishing their
own groups. This important step forward will help improve the welfare of
animals and protect consumers across Europe.”

The inaugural
BelgPAAG meeting was chaired by Marleen Elsen from Chaine Bleue Mondiale, who
is also the Chair of the Belgian Animal Welfare Council and BelgPAAG.

Ms Elsen
said:

"We
are thrilled to be among the first EU countries to launch a group focused on
improving animal welfare standards in online advertising. BelgPAAG was met with
enthusiasm in the Belgian animal welfare community, and we look forward to
working with colleagues across the EU in creating voluntary and visionary standards
for online sales."

With Estonia
taking over Presidency of the Council of the EU in July and their focus on
e-commerce, the EU Dog & Cat Alliance is calling for the development of
further PAAGs across the continent to help drive forward positive change, and
for consumer protection legislation to be tightened to reflect the huge
increases in online sales of animals.